Collator receiver bin shift mechanism



J n- 7, 96 D. SNELLMAN ETAL 3,420,517

COLLATOR RECEIVER BIN SHIFT MECHANISM Filed Jan. 6, 1966 Sheet of s FIG I 24 22 20 F/G 2 L I L 1 216 FIG 3 FIG 4 FlG 5 DONALD L. SNELLMAN JACK D. KEELER INVENTORS v ATTORNEYS...

7, 6 D. 1.. SNELLMAN ETAL COLLATOR RECEIVER BIN SHIFT MECHANISM Sheet 2 of Filed Jan. 1966 FlG 6 FlG 8 I DONALD L. SNELLMAN JAGK D. KEE LER INVENTORS.

ATTORNEYS 7, 1969 D. SNELLMAN ETAL 3,420,517

COLLATOR RECEIVER BIN SHIFT MECHANISM- Filed Jan. 6, 1966 Sheet 3 of 5 FIG IO DONALD L. SNELLMAN JACK D. KEELER INVENTORS ATTORNEYS United States Patent Claims Int. (ll. B65l1 39/02; F16h 27/04; G091? 11/30 ABSTRACT OF THE DTSCLOSURE Mechanism for shifting a receiver bin along a base structure so as to align a selected column of shelves with a collator distributor. A motorized crank arm is mounted on the base and is provided with cams which engage the cam followers on the bottom of the bin so that rotation of the crank arm by means of a reversible electric motor serves to move the bin in one direction or the other. A motor stop switch is provided for halting the operation of the crank arm once the crank arm reaches a given position so as to align the bin in each position of the bin and is provided with presettable switch operators for conditioning the electrical circuit of the motor so as to drive the motor in either direction. In this manner, the bin may be programmed so as to run through a series of positions and then reverse as desired.

The present invention relates to collator receivers in general and more specifically to a receiver bin shift mechanism and control means therefor. The shiftable bin of the collator receiver is provided with multiple rows of receiver trays for accepting sheet material directed thereto by the collator distributor as will be well understood by those familiar with the art. The collator distributor functions to separate the sheet material by directing the sheets into a predetermined set of receiver trays in a given row of trays of the receiver bin. Once a particular run or set of trays has been filled, it is necessary to shift the receiver bin relative to the distributor so as to locate succeeding rows of trays in position to receive sheets collated by the distributor. The present invention seeks to provide an improved mechanism and control system for either automatically or manually shifting the receiver bin so as to position the desired row of receiver trays in alignment with the distributor.

Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an improved collator receiver bin shift mechanism and control system therefor for selectively or automatically shifting the receiver bin to a predetermined position or sequence of positions relative to the collator distributor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a collator receiver bin shift means which is simplified in structure and which functions to efficiently and rapidly perform the shifting operation.

The means by which the foregoing objects and other advantages, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, are accomplished are set forth in the following specification and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a rear elevational view of the collator re ceiver;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the collator distributor and receiver;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the central section of the receiver base with the receiver bin removed;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3;

Patented Jan. 7, 1969 FIG. 5 is a cross sectional detail taken along lines 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the receiver bin;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 88 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 9-9 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a detail plan view of a switching mechanism for the receiver;

FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 1111 of FIG. 10; and

FIG. 12 is a schematic of the electrical control circuit for the receiver bin shifting mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals indicate identical parts in the various views, the collator receiver comprises, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in general, a bin 10 having vertical columns or rows of trays or shelves for holding collated material, four such columns 12, 14, 16 and 18, being shown in FIG. 1, and the base indicated generally at 20. The open front side 22 of the bin 10 faces a collator distributor 24. The bin 10 is adapted for longitudinal reciprocation in the front of the distributor 24 along the base 20 on a suitable bin track 26. The bin may be suitably constructed with two side walls 28 and 30, a top wall 32 (upper side) and a bottom wall 34 (under side). The shelves or trays of each column of the receiver bin are adapted to be aligned with the collator distributor 24. The back side 36 of the receiver bin 16 is open to permit removal of the collated material.

A motor operated shifting means is provided to longitudinally move the bin 10 back and forth along the bin track 26. Switch means are provided to deactivate the motor-operated shifting means when a column in the bin 10 has been brought into alignment with the distributor 24. Control means are also provided for controlling the motor-operated bin shifting assembly such that the bin 10 may be longitudinally moved back and forth to locate the columns before the distributor 24 in any preselected sequence.

The preferred construction of bin track 26 is that of a rail preferably constructed with an inverted T-shaped cross section as shown in detail in FIG. 9 with the rail being attached to the base 20 by the screw means or the like as shown. The rail is mounted parallel with the edge of the base and may be located therealong or spaced inwardly as desired. The opposite longitudinal edge of the base 20 may be provided with a flat planar track 38 or may be provided with a rail as desired. The adaptation of the underside 34 of the bin 10 that enables the bin to be longitudinally guided along the bin track preferably comprises a wheel assembly 40 of the type shown in FIG. 9. Preferably two such wheel assemblies are provided, one at each corner of the front side of the underside 34 of the bin 10 but may be located in other positions and may be provided in greater or fewer number, depending upon the location and design of the bin track. The wheel assembly 41 on the opposite side of the bin may comprise a single wheel mounting for the wheels 410 which ride on the track 38. As shown in FIG. 9, the preferred wheel assembly 40 comprises a wheel 42 with a horizontal axis of rotation journaled to the bin underside 34 by means of an axle 44 extending therethrough and carried by a suitable support 46; support 46 being suitably attached to the bin underside 34 such that wheel 42 is adapted to run on the top of the rail 26. Two keeper wheels 48 and 50 with vertical axes of rotation are journaled to the bin underside 34 by means of the axles 52 and 54 respectively extending therethrough and attached to support 46. The keeper wheels are adapted to run on opposite sides of the rail 26 so as to prevent substantial transverse movement of the bin without effecting longitudinal movement thereof.

The base preferably has a rectangular configuration in plan as shown in FIG. 2 with two side walls 56 and 58 and a top wall 60 (upper side). The upper side 60 preferably is provided with a well as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 defined by the side walls 62 that depend therefrom as shown most clearly in FIG. 4. A motor-operated gear assembly may be attached to the base 20 within the well as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and a motor 64 therefor may be attached to one of the base side walls as shown in FIG. 3.

A preferred motor-operated gear assembly for controlling the bin shift mechanism is shown in detail in FIGS. 3 and 4. The gear assembly includes a drive sprocket 68, a horizontally disposed elongated rotatable crank arm mounted for rotation above the drive sprocket 68 by means of the shaft 72 and having two upwardly extending cam rollers 74 and 76 attached to the opposite end portions thereof at equal distances from its axis of rotation. The cam rollers 74 and 76 are adapted to engage suitable tracks provided therefor on the bin underside 34 such that bin 10 is moved longitudinally along the bin track as one of the cam roller members traverses one of the tracks in response to rotation of the drive sprocket 68 which will presently be described.

The crank arm 70 is preferably supported vertically by a disc member 78 which is fixedly attached to the shaft 80 which also fixedly mounts the sprocket 68 such that the disc is rotated by the sprocket 68 when the sprocket is driven by the motor 64 through an endless chain 82 held taut by the two idler sprockets 84 and 86. On top of the disc 78 a vertical stud is provided offset from the axis of rotation. On the under side of the crank arm 70, two arcuate slots 92 and 94 are provided which are so located as to be engaged by the stud 90 to thereby drive the horizontal crank arm 70. When the disc 78 is rotated in one direction, the stud 90 will engage one of the slots and when the disc is rotated 180 in the opposite direction, the stud 90 will engage the other slot to drive the crank arm in the opposite direction. It will be understood, of course, that other arrangements may be utilized for engaging the disc and the crank arm such as stop members on both the disc and the crank arm.

The collator distributor 24 is preferably positioned relative to the base 20 such that whenever the crank arm 70 is driven to a position parallel with the bin track, one of the columns in the bin will be aligned before the distributor for receipt of collated material. A motor stop switch 96, having an extended actuating arm )8 as shown in detail in FIG. 5, is located adjacent the sprocket 68 for deenergizing the motor whenever the crank arm 70 is driven to a position parallel to the bin track so that a bin column is properly aligned. In the preferred embodiment of the gear assembly, the underside of the sprocket 68 is provided with two trip pins and 102 which extend downwardly and are located on a diameter at equal radial distances from the drive sprocket axis of rotation. The two trip pins 100 and 102 are adapted to contact the extending actuating arm 98 of the switch 96 whenever the sprocket 68 is rotated 180. In addition to the motor stop switch 96, a take-up switch 104 is also positioned beneath the sprocket 68 with its operating arm 106 positioned so as to .be contacted by either of the pins 100 and 102 as the sprocket rotates. It will be noted that the switch 104 is positioned approximately 90 from the switch 96 along the path of travel of the trip pins 100 and 102. The switch 104 functions to control a feeder device which may be used in conjunction with the collator distributor 24 so as to interrupt the feeding of sheets to the distributor upon filling the last bin in a predetermined sequence of shifting position of the received sheets as will be more fully explained in connection with the overall operation of the bin shift mechanism in conjunction with the control circuit shown in FIG. 12.

A friction brake indicated generally at 108 in FIG. 3 is preferably positioned to insure that the elongated crank arm 70 will stop in the proper position when the motor 64 is deenergized. The friction brake 108 may comprise a bumper pad 110 carried on the slidable rods 112 with the springs 114 providing a cushioned backing for the pad. The pad 110 is so positioned that one of the ends of the crank arm 70 contacts the bumper pad after each 180 rotation of the arm. The pad 110 insures that the arm will stop on center and will not over travel or coast so that the bin is locked against manual shifting.

As aforementioned, the underside 34 of the bin 10 is provided with a plurality of tracks which cooperate with the cam rollers 74 and 76 on the crank arm for shifting the bin upon rotation of the arm. Although only three such track means are shown for the particular illustrated embodiment, it will be understood that additional tracks may be provided depending upon the number of rows of trays in the particular bin. The particular arrangement shown provides for a four row bin with the three tracks 116, 118 and 120 each being formed by pairs of guide bars 122-123, 124125 and 126427 respectively. In addition, end bars 128 are located at opposite ends of the bin which contact one of the cam rollers at either end position of the shifting range. As illustrated, the bars 122 and 127 may be provided with curved surface end portions to eliminate possibility of hang up of the cam rollers. With this arrangement, it will be obvious that a 180 turning motion of the crank arm 70 in either direction from the dotted line position shown in FiG. 6 will senve to move the bin accordingly by virtue of the contact between either of the cam rollers 74 and 76 and the track 116 or 118. A 180 rotation of the arm 70 in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 6 would move the bin to the right one row and a continued rotation of the arm in the same direction through a 360 swing would move the bin two rows to the right so as to align the extreme left hand end of the bin with the collator distributor.

The control means for determining the direction of rotation of the motor 64, which constitutes a reversible electric motor, so as to control the direction in which the bin is shifted comprises a switch assembly 130 connected to the base 20, as illustrated in FIG. 3 and in detail in FIGS. 10 and 11, and a plurality of selectively positionable switch operators 132 carried on the bottom side 34 of the bin 20. It will be noted that the switch operators 132 are located along the opposite rear edge of the bin from the tracks 116-120. The switch operators 132 are so located as to overlie the switch assembly 130 in each of the four positions of the bin.

Referring specifically to the switch assembly 130, the various switches may be mounted in the housing 133 connected to the base 20 as illustrated. The assembly includes a double pole double throw reversing switch 134 having an operating arm 136 and a bin sense switch (not shown) operated by the switch arm 138 with both of the operator arms being pivotally mounted on a pivot bolt 140. The switch 134 functions to reverse the direction of rotation of the motor 64 as will be presently described and the bin sense switch provides a sensing means for v automatic control of a feeder device when desired as will be described more in detail with relation to the schematic in FIG. 12.

Each of the switch arms 136 and 138 is spring biased upwardly by a suitable compression spring such as the spring 142 shown in FIG. 11 which acts between the switch arm and the bottom of the switch housing. In addition, each switch arm 136 and 138 is provided with a rod member 144 which extends through a suitable enlarged opening in the respective switch arm and provides a stop means for the upward movement of the switch arm. The reversing switch arm 136 is provided with a first roller contact 146 located inboard of the edge of the base 20 which will operate the switch arm when contacted from either direction by the switch operator means presently to be described. The arm 136 has a Secondary arm 148 pivoted thereto as illustrated which includes a second roller contact 150' outboard of the roller 146. The secondary arm 148 is biased in the clockwise direction of rotation as illustrated in FIG. 11 by means of a tension spring 152 with the rotation of the arm 148 being limited by the stop pin 154 to which the spring 152 is connected. With this arrangement, the roller contact 150 will be effective to operate the switch 134 only when contacted from the left hand direction as illustrated in FIG. 11. When the contact roller 150 is contacted from the right hand direction, the only result is that of pivoting the secondary arm 14% about its pivot point against the tension of the spring 152. To complete the switching arrangement, the switch arm 138 is provided with a roller contact 156 which serves to rotate the arm 138 when contacted from either direction by the switch operator means. The function of the bin sense switch and the switch 134 will be explained in detail with relation to the schematic in FIG. 12.

The switch operator assemblies 132 may be identical in structure as shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 11. As illustrated, the switch operators are mounted in retaining blocks 158 secured to the bottom of the bin and include, a shaft 160 slidably received in the block 158, a transverse bar 162 and a strike plate 164. The shaft 160 in the preferred embodiment is provided with three annular grooves 165, 166 and 167 which cooperate with the spring pressed ball detent 168 to hold the shaft in any one of three selected positions. The shaft 160 may also be provided with a convenient handle 171) to facilitate positioning of the shaft. The transverse bar 162 on the inboard end of the shaft 160 serves to mount the strike plate 164 in a substantially horizontal plane and the strike plate may have its two end portions and inside edge bent upwardly to provide a smooth camming action when the strike plate contacts the rollers of the switch arms. As seen in FIGS. 7 and 8, the strike plate of each one of the switch operators 132 may be selectively positioned in one of three positions ace-ording to the locations of the annular grooves 165-167. The position shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is the center position wherein the strike plate will contact both the rollers 156 and 150. The shaft 160 may be pulled outwardly so that the groove 167 is held by the detent and the strike plate will engage only the roller 156 of the bin sense switch and by pushing the shaft inwardly until the groove 165 is engaged, the strike plate will contact all three rollers. Thus the bin sense switch 156 is actuated in each position of the bin and reversal of the direction of shifting of the bin may be controlled by contacting either one or the other of the rollers 146 and 150 or by avoiding contact with either. Thus if the operator wishes to have the bin direction reversed after shifting in either direction the strike plate is positioned to contact both the rollers 150 and 146. If it is desired to have the direction of movement reversed at any one of the bin positions only when the bin is moving in the left hand direction, as viewed in FIG. 3, the strike plate will be set so as to contact only the roller 150. If the bin is travelling to the right as viewed in FIG. 3 contacting the roller 150 will not be effective to operate the switch. With this arrangement the switch operators may be set to run through a series of positions in one direction and then return to a particular position and then reverse direction. The operators may also be set to run through the entire four positions and stop or to run to a particular one of the positions and reverse. The particular switching arrangement is provided to increase the possible variations of bin positioning. With the structural details described and with reference to the control circuit shown in FIG. 12, the overall operation of the shifting mechanism will now be described in detail.

Assuming that the crank arm 70 is in the position shown in FIG. 3 so that the motor stop switch 96 is held in its open condition, the reversible motor 64 is deenergized. The bin shift mechanism may be selectively operated through one cycle by closing the bin shift switch 8-44 which is a momentary push button switch which opens after a time delay. The switch 8-44 may be located at any convenient spot on the device or on a control panel. Referring to FIG. 12, closing of the switch 8-44 energizes the relay R-79 and its contact R-79-1 closes so as to complete a circuit through the run winding of the motor 64 and the relay R-39. Closing of the contact R-39-1 serves to energize the start winding of the motor 64 and, depending upon the position of the reversing switch 134, the motor will start to run in a given direction. As mentioned, the motor stop switch 96 is held open by one of the pins 101) or 102 on the sprocket 68 until the sprocket is moved. As soon as the motor starts, the switch 96 is allowed to move to its normally closed position and serves to hold R-79 energized. Momentary push button start switch 8-44 by this time has opened again and the motor 64 is held energized through the relay R-79. When the crank arm 70 has rotated 180, so as to shift the bin one position in the given direction and the brake pad has halted the rotation, stop switch 96 is again held in the open position by the pin 101) or 102 and R-79 is again deenergized so as to drop out the motor 64 and the relay R-39 by opening up the contact R-79-1. Depending upon the setting of the strike plate 164 of the switch operator 132 for the new bin position, the switch 134 will either remain in its original position so that on the next cycle the bin will continue in the same direction or to the switch 134 will be actuated so as to reverse the polarity of the start winding of the motor 64 so that the bin will be moved in the reverse direction on the next shift cycle. Assuming that the reversing switch 134 has been reversed, the next time the manual switch 8-44 is closed, the motor 64 will be energized through the relay R-79. The sprocket 63 will turn through the first 180 in the opposite direction so as to bring the stud 9% into engagement with the opposite arcuate track on the underside of the arm 70. The momentary holding switch 8-44 will hold the motor energized until the crank arm 70 starts its rotation and the motor stop switch 96 is closed allowing another 180 of rotation of the crank arm in the opposite direction.

Provision is made in the electrical circuit for controlling the bin shifting as a function of the operation of the collator 24, although the details of the collator distributor form no part of the present invention and various types of collator distributors may be utilized in conjunction with the bin shift mechanism, a cam operated time delay switch 8-61 shown in FIG. 12 may be provided on the particular distributor such that when the distributor finishes its count or collating cycle, a cam will serve to close the switch 8-61 which will remain in the closed position for a short period of time. As seen in FIG. 12, a manual switch 8-45 may also be provided in series with the switch 8-61 so that an operator may selectively set the bin shift for automatic control by the collator distributor. With the switch 8-45 being closed, and the collator count complete, 8-61 is moved to the closed position after a particular row of trays of the bin has been filled. The relay R-Sl will be energized closing the relay contact R-51-1 which serves to energize the bin shift motor 64 through one cycle as previously described with relation to manual switch 8-44.

In addition to the automatic control of the bin shift through the collator distributor function, provision is also made for controlling a feeder device which is normally used in conjunction with the collator distributor such as a printer, processing machine or any feeder device used in conjunction with this type of machine. The object, of course, is to deenergize the sheet feeder mechanism at a desired bin position. This function is obtained through the take-up switch 104 mounted beneath the sprocket 68 and the bin sense switch 8-67. As previously mentioned, the bin sense switch 8-67 is actuated by the striker plate 164 each time the bin is halted at a given position. In order to selectively control this operation, a normally open feeder control on-switch 8-65 and a normally closed feeder control off-switch 8-40 are provided in series in the circuit, i.e. both of these switches must be in the closed position in order to obtain the feeder control function. The operator will set the strike plate 164 so as to actuate the reversing switch 134 at the particular bin position determined to be the end position in a series. After the trays have been filled in this position, the count complete switch -61 will be closed so as to start the motor 64 in the reverse direction. The relay R81 shown in the circuit in FIG. 12 will be used as the feeder control olfrelay such that the feeder will cease operation when the relay deenergizes. Assuming that the bin has reached its end position and the collator distributor has completed its count, the motor 64 will be energized and the sprocket 68 will start its reverse travel but the crank arm 70 will not move for the first 180 travel of the sprocket and thus the bin sense switch S-67 will remain in its open position. When the sprocket moves through approximately 90", one of the pins 100 or 102 will serve to actuate the switch 104 to the open position thus breaking the circuit through the relay R-81 to deenergize the feeder. The switch 8-65, of course, is a momentary holding switch which has again opened. Thus the flow of sheets to be collated is interrupted and the function of the collator distributor is interrupted.

It is believed that the invention will have been clearly understood from the foregoing detailed description of the illustrated preferred embodiment. Minor changes in the details of construction will suggest themselves and may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly it is intended that no limitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims be given a scope fully commensurate with the broadest interpretation to which the employed language fairly admits.

Having thus described the invention, what is new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a collator receiver bin, a supporting base therefor and means to guide the bin for longitudinal shifting on the base, bin shifting mechanism for shifting said bin in given increments of travel on the base comprising; a crank arm, means for mounting said crank arm on said base for rotation in a plane substantially parallel to the bottom of said bin, means to selectively rotate said crank arm, cam follower means on the bottom surface of said bin, and cam means carried on said crank arm for engaging said cam follower means to shift the bin upon rotation of the crank arm, said cam means being spaced a distance from the axis of rotation of said crank arm such that said cam means contacts said follower to move the bin through said given increment of travel at least once during one rotation of the crank arm.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said cam follower means comprises; an elongated guide member extending transversely to the longitudinally axis of the base, said cam means being mounted on the end portion of the crank arm and serving to contact said guide member to move the bin in a given direction.

3. The combination according to claim 1 wherein, said cam follower means comprises a pair of closely spaced parallel elongated guide members extending transversely to the longitudinal axis cam means being located on the end portion of the crank arm and passing between said guide members to move the bin in either direction according to the direction of rotation of the crank arm.

4. The combination according to claim 3 wherein a plurality of cam follower means are provided on said bin and spaced longitudinally therealong for shifting the bin to a plurality of positions.

5. The combination according to claim 4 wherein said crank arm is provided with cam means on its opposite end portions, said arm being mounted for rotation about an axis midway between said cam means, and said cam follower means being spaced a distance equal to the distance between said cam means.

6. The combination according to claim 5 wherein, said means to selectively rotate said crank arm includes, a reversible electric motor, a drive shaft, power transmission means connecting said motor to drive said shaft, said crank arm being mounted for free rotation about the axis of said shaft, means on said shaft to engage said arm to drive said arm in either direction, and electrical control means for controlling the operation of said motor.

7. The combination according to claim 6 including brake means to halt the rotation of said arm after each of rotation to maintain said arm extended in a longitudinal direction when deenergizcd.

8. The combination according to claim 7 wherein said control means includes, first switch means for energizing said motor, second switch means to control the direction of rotation of said motor, and third switch means for deenergizing said motor after each 180 rotation of said shaft.

9. The combination according to claim 8 wherein said second switch means constitutes a cam operated reversing switch, means to mount said switch on said base, and selectively positionable cam means on said bin to cause actuation of said reversing switch at preselected positions of said bin.

10. The combination according to claim 9 wherein said cam operated reversing switch includes a first switch operating arm adapted to operate said switch when contacted from either direction, and a second operating arm, said second operating arm being pivoted to said first arm, spring means acting between said switch arms to bias said second arm in one direction, said second arm being adapted to contact and actuate said first arm when operated in the opposite direction, said selectively positionable cam means being movable between a first position to avoid contact with said operating arm, a second position to contact only said second operating arm and a third position to contact both said arms whereby the bin may be shifted in one direction only, reversed when moved in one direction only or reversed when moved in either direction to any selected position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,038,373 6/1962 Kaden 4079 3,067,535 12/1962 Mulch 4079 3,330,059 7/1967 Ackermann et al 40--79 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

P. V. WILLIAMS, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

